Accounting, 3rd Edition

Chapter 14

International accounting

‘Whether we are ready or not, mankind now has a completely integrated financial and informational market place capable of moving money and ideas to any place on this planet in minutes.’

W. Wriston, Risk and Other Four-letter Words, p. 132, The Executive's Book of Quotations (1990), p. 150.

Learning Outcomes

After completing this chapter you should be able to:

• Explain and discuss the main divergent forces.
• Understand the macro and micro approaches to the classification of international accounting practices.
• Understand the accounting systems and environments in France, Germany, China, the UK and the US.
• Examine the convergent forces upon accounting, especially harmonisation in the European Union and standardisation through the International Accounting Standards Board.

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Chapter Summary

• Global trade and investment make national accounting very constrictive.
• Divergent forces are those factors that make accounting different in different countries.
• The main divergent forces are: objectives, users, sources of finance, regulation, taxation, the accounting profession, spheres of influence and culture.
• Countries can be classified into those with macro and micro ...